A/N: Chapter Two! Hope you like it! Please like, comment, and follow!
The next morning, when my alarm went off at six thirty, I just lay there and listened to I'm Ready by AJR. Kinda ironic, seeing as I proceeded to slam my hand on the snooze button as hard as I could so Ella wouldn't wake up and drag us all out of bed. I was too late. Ella leapt out of bed and shook all of us until we were as disoriented as if we'd ridden a rollercoaster and then drank twelve cups of coffee. I groaned and slid out from under the covers, then Ella and I managed to rouse Kiara. With mounting apprehension, we stared at the mound of covers that was Tessa- who'd managed to fall back asleep after the vigorous wake-up process that Ella had performed. Ella was the only one who'd managed to touch Tessa without being injured, but waking Tessa on the first day back had almost cost her the record. "I'll get the air horn and you two can shake her up- how about that?" said Kiara. She scampered into the closet and returned with her air horn, which she had wisely bought for our second year rooming with Tessa. She pressed the rubber ball, and an earsplitting noise rent the air. Through the horrible sound, Ella and I shook, poked, and tickled Tessa until she relented.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" she grumbled and slowly crawled out from under the mound of blankets. We all breathed a sigh of relief- she hadn't been flailing, and fifteen minutes to get her out of bed was a new record!
After we had changed into our black flexi-suits and donned our red sashes, we descended the nine flights of stairs to the dining hall for breakfast. It was nice to be back at Viventi- especially because of the food! There were all-you-can-eat buffets for every meal, and each dish was cooked to perfection by the chefs of the academy. At seven forty-five, the schedules were posted on the dining hall wall. Classes were determined by dorm room numbers, and when we scampered over to the wall, I was crossing my fingers that I wouldn't be in the class of my arch-nemesis, Victoria Bakeridge. Of course, she was in room 424, just four dorms after mine, so there was little chance of that. Sure enough, Victoria was in four out of seven of my classes- my second period, Honors Calculations, my third, Advanced Literature (she probably bought her way in), my fourth, History, and sixth, Advanced Science (again, she had lots of money and very little brains). The only classes she hadn't been able to poison was Advanced Weaponry, Advanced Wilderness Survival, and Field Experiences, where we went on real-life missions to kill Catrops. All my roommates were in all my classes. Money can't buy skill! I thought happily.
We hurried into first period, Advanced Weaponry, which was held in the upper gym. The catch? The room's floors, walls, ceiling, and air could be manipulated to resemble any environment. Some classes we sparred, and some classes we studied weapons. I loosened my sword happily and ran over to the wall, where I grabbed a shield. Then I read the message on the whiteboard and gasped. When Kiara, Ella, and Tessa looked confused, I pointed at the board. Written on it was Shield Making Today!
"THAT'S RIGHT, CLASS! IT'S TIME TO MAKE YOUR SHIELDS!" yelled Coach Bartleby. The students erupted into cheers. We'd been waiting to make shields... well, ever since we made our swords. I did a little hop of excitement. "AND YOU'RE MISSING CLASSES FOR THE NEXT THREE WEEKS TO GO TO A MOUNTAIN FORGE!" she screamed.
"A MOUNTAIN FORGE!" Ella screamed.
"I KNOW!" Kiara and I responded. Even Tessa grinned. Mountain forges were the best place to make weapons, because the fires were imbued with the magical power of the first proper Catrops hunter's blade- Excalibur.
In half an hour, each of us loaded into the school's hovercars with a spare jumpsuit and sash- other than our swords, that was the only equipment we could bring. It was a rule that dated back to when Viventi was founded.
The second everybody got out, the hovercars zoomed away. Coach Bartleby pulled out a huge megaphone (why she'd need it, I don't know) and screamed, "YOU KNOW THE RULES! TEAM UP WITH YOUR DORMMATES ONLY! EVERYTHING HAPPENS BY HAND! COME BACK TO THIS SPOT WHEN YOU'RE DONE! WE'LL BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR EARLY FINISHERS! YOU HAVE TWO AND A HALF WEEKS! GO!"
"Where's the Mountain Forge?" someone asked.
"YOU'LL FIND IT! NOW GO, GO GO!!!!!" she shouted.
We charged into the woods without a second's hesitation. My dormmates and I had been on enough wilderness trips to know what to do. "Maya, you're in charge of making the pickaxes. Kiara, you make the lean-to. Tessa, we need food. I'll be in charge of the fire," Ella said. She was small, but she was a natural leader. I hurried off in search of wood and stone.
Since my blade was made of a fusion of titanium and adamant, it was the strongest metal in the kingdom and could cut anything except for the inclined plane of amethyst, an evil material. I still remembered what had happened when we had run into Catrops with horns made of the stuff... but what happened there stays there.
I came out of my reverie, and with my spare knife made of the same metal as my sword, I carved out a stone pickaxe head and a stone nail, along with a handle made of wood. I joined the three together to make a crude but effective pickaxe, then repeated the process three more times to make four tools, and walked back to the camp with the picks bundled in my arms. Ella had a blazing fire going, and alongside that was a large pile of wood. Tessa sat by a large woven basket filled with berries, nuts, and animal carcasses and was roasting an animal on a spit over the fire. Entrails were heaped beside her. Kiara was putting the finishing touches on a spacious lean-to constructed of sticks, leaves, and woven vines. I dumped the pickaxes by the fire and sat down. "I think we're doing pretty good!" Kiara exclaimed.
"Me too. But it's getting dark and we should sleep. We'll have to mine for titanium and adamant. Even though they're abundant metals, do you remember what happened last time we tried to get a chunk out without clearing away the surrounding rock?" Tessa asked.
I shivered. "My memory might be hazy, but didn't the cave's ceiling come down on us, leaving us to dig our way out?"
Ella shuddered as well. "I'm pretty sure."
"And I'm pretty sure you weren't supposed to pull it out without digging around it first, but you thought that you were better than everyone- which you're not- and you did it anyway and failed. Like usual," said a familiar honey-sweet voice. The tips of my ears burned red. I knew that voice anywhere- and so did my roommates. We all scowled and snarled at the newcomer.
"Victoria Bakeridge," I hissed. I hated that girl with a passion. At Matioty Starter, I'd proved Kiara and I were smarter and stronger than her, and she'd gone out of her way to make life difficult for me and Kiara ever since. Ella and Tessa also felt her fury, but the brunt of it was directed at me and Kiara.
"Maya Rowlinson and Kiara Emermond. Tessa Scotakos. Ella Carelment. How... repulsive."
"Why are you here?" Kiara snarled.
"Well, I got into the class a little... late... and Coach told me to get a tool from you!" Victoria exclaimed brightly. I got up and threw the worst pickaxe at her. "Also, one of you will have to build my camp."
"I'll go," Kiara said with a strange smile on her face. Anyone who really knew her would have taken off running when they saw that face, but Victoria probably thought it was a deformed snarl.
"Perfect." They stalked off into the forest, Kiara's silver titanium and adamant sword and Victoria's purplish-white, long, thin saber swinging.
After they had left, we tried to settle in for the night- and then we heard a yell and a scream.
A/N: Cliffie! Kolkolkolkolkol... if you didn't get that then go watch Hetalia. Please comment, like, and follow!
-Deepio the Slytherclaw
